A study by Kuopio University Hospital and the University of Eastern Finland shows that sleep disturbances during pregnancy may be a significant risk factor for gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM).
GDM is a rapidly increasing public health problem, and it is already diagnosed in almost one in five pregnant women in Finland. GDM increases the risk of complications for both the mother and the child during pregnancy and, in the long term, the risk of obesity and diabetes. Sleep disturbances are also very common during pregnancy. They have been suspected to have an adverse effect on glucose metabolism, but there is only limited data based on research on the subject.
According to the new results of the Kuopio Birth Cohort study (KuBiCo), sleep disturbances experienced in the second trimester are associated with an increased risk of GDM—regardless of the mother's age, body mass index (BMI) or other known risk factors. The paper is published in the Journal of Pregnancy.
More than 5,000 pregnant women in Finland participated in the study. During the third trimester of their pregnancy, they responded to a sleep survey regarding the second trimester. Monitoring continued until delivery, and 23% of the participants were diagnosed with GDM.
